Christian contemplation

Christian contemplation, from contemplatio (Latin; Greek , Theoria), refers to several Christian practices which aim at "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the Divine. It includes several practices and theological concepts.

Christianity took up the use of both the Greek (theoria) and Latin (contemplatio, contemplation) terminology to describe various forms of prayer and the process of coming to know God. Eastern and Western traditions of Christianity grew apart as they incorporated the general notion of theoria into their respective teachings.

The central practice is contemplative prayer, in which a meaningful word, or a short sentence, is repeated with full attention. It is distinct from vocal prayer (the recitation of words) and, strictly speaking, from meditation (a form of mental prayer, also called methodical prayer, based on discursive reflection). Three stages are discerned in contemplative practice, namely purgatory, contemplation proper, and the vision of God.

The Greek theoria (θεωρία), from which the English word "theory" (and "theatre") is derived, meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from theorein (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from theoros (θεωρός) "spectator", from thea (θέα) "a view" + horan (ὁρᾶν) "to see". It expressed the state of being a . Both Greek θεωρία and Latin contemplatio primarily meant looking at things, whether with the eyes or with the mind.

Commenting on Aristotle's view of the lack of practical usefulness of the contemplation of theoria, Andrew Louth said:

The word theoria is derived from a verb meaning to look, or to see: for the Greeks, knowing was a kind of seeing, a sort of intellectual seeing. Contemplation is, then, knowledge, knowledge of reality itself, as opposed to knowing how: the kind of know-how involved in getting things done. To this contrast between the active life and contemplation there corresponds a distinction in our understanding of what it is to be human between reason conceived as puzzling things out, solving problems, calculating and making decisions - referred to by the Greek words phronesis and dianoia, or in Latin by ratio - and reason conceived as receptive of truth, beholding, looking - referred to by the Greek words theoria or sophia (wisdom) or nous (intellect), or in Latin intellectus. Augustine expressed this distinction by using scientia for the kind of knowledge attained by ratio, and sapientia, wisdom, for the kind of knowledge received by intellectus. Human intelligence operates at two levels: a basic level concerned with doing things, and another level concerned with simply beholding, contemplating, knowing reality.

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